4. Can Victory Be Attained By Guerrilla Operations?

Guerrilla hostilities are but one phase of the war of resistance against
Japan and the answer to the question of whether or not they can produce ultimate
victory can be given only after investigation and comparison of all elements
of our own strength with those of the enemy. The particulars of such a comparison
are several. First, the strong Japanese bandit nation is an absolute monarchy.
During the course of her invasion of China, she had made comparative progress
in the techniques of industrial production and in the development of excellence
and skill in her army, navy, and airforce. But in spite of this industrial
progress, she remains an absolute monarchy of inferior physical endowments.
Her manpower, her raw materials, and her financial resources are all inadequate
and insufficient to maintain her in protracted warfare or to meet the situation
presented by a war prosecuted over a vast area. Added to this is the anti-war
feeling now manifested by the Japanese people, a feeling that is shared by
the junior officers and, more extensively, by the soldiers of the invading
army. Furthermore, China is not Japan's only enemy. Japan is unable to employ
her entire strength in the attack on China; she cannot, at most, spare more
than a million men for this purpose, as she must hold any in excess of that
number for use against other possible opponents. Because of these important
primary considerations, the invading Japanese bandits can hope neither to
be victorious in a protracted struggle nor to conquer a vast area. Their
strategy must be one of lightning war and speedy decision. If we can hold
out for three or more years, it will be most difficult for Japan to bear
up under the strain.

In the war, the Japanese brigands must depend upon lines of communication
linking the principal cities as routes for the transport of war materials.
The most important considerations for her are that her rear be stable and
peaceful and that her lines of communication be intact. It is not to her an
advantage to wage war over a vast area with disrupted lines of communication.
She cannot disperse her strength and fight in a number of places, and her
greatest fears are these eruptions in her rear and disruption of her lines
of communication. If she can maintain communications, she will be able at
will to concentrate powerful forces speedily at strategic points to engage
our organized units in decisive battle. Another important Japanese objective
is to profit from the industries, finances, and manpower in captured areas
and with them to augment her own insufficient strength. Certainly, it is
not to her advantage to forgo these benefits, not to be forced to dissipate
her energies in a type of warfare in which the gains will not compensate
for the losses. It is for these reasons that guerrilla warfare conducted
in each bit of conquered territory over a wide area will be a heavy blow
struck at the Japanese bandits. Experience in the five northern provinces
as well as in Kiangsu, Chekiang and Anhwei has absolutely established the
truth of this assertion.

China is a country half colonial and half feudal; it is a country that is
politically, militarily, and economically backward. This is an inescapable
conclusion. It is a vast country with great resources and tremendous population,
a country in which the terrain is complicated and the facilities for
communication are poor. All theses factors favour a protracted war, they
all favour the application of mobile warfare and guerilla operations. The
establishment of innumerable anti-Japanese bases behind the enemy's lines
will force him to fight unceasingly in many places at once, both to his front
and his rear. He thus endlessly expends his resources.

We must unite the strength of the army with that of the people, we must strike
the weak spots in the enemy's flanks, in his front, in his rear. We must
make war everywhere and cause dispersal of his forces and dissipation of
his strength. Thus the time will come when a gradual change will become evident
in the relative position of ourselves and our enemy, and when that day comes,
it will be the beginning of our ultimate victory over the Japanese.

Although China's population is great, it is unorganized. This is a weakness
which must be then into account.

The Japanese bandits have merely to conquer territory but rapacious, and
murderous policy of the extinction of the Chinese race. We must unite the
nation without regard to parties and follow our policy of resistance to the
end. China today is not the China of old. It is not like Abyssinia. China
today is at the point of her greatest historical progress. The standards
of literacy among the masses have been raised; the
rapprochement of Communists and Nationalists has laid the
foundation for an anti-Japanese war front that is constantly being strengthened
and expanded; government, army and people are all working with great energy;
the raw material resources and the economic strength of the nation are waiting
to be used; the unorganized people are becoming an organized nation.

These energies must be directed toward the goal of protracted war so that
should the Japanese occupy much of our territory or even most of it, we shall
still gain final victory. Not only must those behind our lines organize for
resistance but also those who live in Japanese-occupied territory in every
part of the country. The traitors who accept the Japanese as fathers are
few in number, and those who have taken oath that they would prefer death
to abject slavery are many. If we resist with this spirit, what enemy can
we not conquer and who can say that ultimate victory will not be ours?

The Japanese are waging a barbaric war along uncivilized lines. For that
reason, Japanese of all classes oppose the policies of their government,
as do vast international groups. On the other hand, because China's cause
is righteous, our countrymen of all classes and parties are united to oppose
the invader; we have sympathy in many foreign countries including even Japan
itself. This is perhaps the most important reason why Japan will lose and
China will win.

The progress of the war for the emancipation of the Chinese people will be
in accord with these facts. The guerrilla war of resistance will be in accord
with these facts, and that guerrilla operations correlated with those of
our regular forces will produce victory is the conviction of the many patriots
who devote their entire strength to guerrilla hostilities.